Accidental Truths
by hazydayze11
Summary: They knew about her; but they didn't know that she had lived. Now, sixteen years later, they learn the truth, and they set out to repair the wound. But when they find her shattered, will Edward and Bella be too late? BxE
1. Prologue

**Accidental Truths  
****Prologue:**

Forget. A simple word to define, yet impossible to do; especially when the memories you are trying to forget linger in every crack and crevice. They seem to live in the shadows, and linger around every corner. Memories are a curse that we are blessed with.

Human memories easily fade; mine do not. And if, by chance, my memories begin to escape me; a simple smell-the smallest hint of the past-is all that it would take for that memory to resurface…unfortunately, those tiny hints of the past, are everywhere and impossible to ignore.

Luckily for me, however, I don't have a lot of memories…and I'm thankful for it; I don't wish to uncover my past. I have no urge to sift through yesterday; to reveal the dark secrets that no one wanted me to know. I'm fully content sitting in the dark unknown, living solely off of the happiness and current memories that I have with my new family.

But I'm starting to get this feeling. My gut is starting to churn and I'm beginning to come to a shocking realization…

…I won't be kept in the dark for much longer…

xxXxXxXxx

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize…the same goes for all chapters…


	2. Chapter 1: Mirror

**Chapter 1:  
****Mirror**

" _It takes a lot to make me  
__pretty angry, very sad, now.  
__I'm looking towards to outcome  
__there must be some hidden reason… "_

"Come on Talls, get in the car." I turned around and saw, slowly trailing me, a bright red convertible, complete with the BMW insignia; it meant one thing: Aunt Rosalie…

"No." I kept jogging. It didn't matter to me where I was, or how long I've been running for, I was just going to keep moving forward. Aunt Rosalie stopped her car. She opened up the passenger side door, expectantly. I just jogged by…

"Talls, this isn't healthy." Probably not, but it felt good.

"I'm fine." I knew I was lying, and she did too, that's why she got out of her car, and stood in front of me, grabbing me by my shoulders, stopping me from progressing forward…

"You're not fine, Tally, and you know it. This is dangerous; you're dangerous. Let us in, Talls, let us help you. We're family…it's what we do…" She was right…I just wasn't ready to let anyone in yet. I didn't know what to say, so I just went with the question that popped into my head.

"How am I dangerous? You're the one that's dangerous. You and grandpa, and grandma, and…everyone. I'm just me, I'm not dangerous…"

"You're right, Tally; you aren't dangerous, not on the vampire sense of the word, but you are killing yourself; you're dangerous to you…" Some small part of my being agreed with her, but the dominant part of me wanted to yell at her; she didn't know me. No, that was a lie, Aunt Rosalie knew me; she understood me better than I did. I just wasn't ready to whole-heartedly agree with her yet.

"Wouldn't you be? If you were put into my place, Aunt Rose, wouldn't you be a hazard to your self? What am I supposed to do; just accept the fact that I'm not wanted and move on with my life; picking daisies? I'm doing the best I can. I'm trying to be strong." A sad look just graced her features and she pulled me into a hug, and in a quiet, sad voice, she whispered in my ear.

"You know, Talls; every once in a while, you can let your guard down, especially to me. You don't have to constantly put on your mask; when you wear it, you dissolve. You begin to drift away from us, you hurt yourself. You're human, you can leave us; we don't want that, it would break us. Stop running, Tally; you can't run for forever; you'll run out of road…"

"I'm not all human."

"No, your not. But you are still destructible, and you are still killing yourself. Share the pain, Tally. It will hurt less…" She was serious. She was hurting. That was what I was attempting to avoid, hurting those I loved. I was hoping that if I quietly suffered through my pain alone, no one else would have to deal with the intensity of my sadness, the extremity of my sorrow. I guess I was wrong. My theory failed. I guess it was time to give Aunt Rosalie's a try…it was time to let my family into the equation...

I started crying. For the first time in about two months, I started crying. Aunt Rose breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief when I finally let my guard down. And we stood there, on the side of the road, for hours, while she just let me cry out the last two months…

…the next thing I remembered was waking up the next morning.

It took me a while to realize where I was. I was still dazed, disoriented. After a few minutes though, I recognized the candy apple red walls, the soft gold comforter, the overstocked vanity…I was in Aunt Rosalie's room.

I quickly sat up, my eyes searching for her…I was ready to talk about it. She suddenly appeared at the doorway, a plate of cookies in her hand and Aunt Alice at her side. I gave a tiny hint of a smile; it was the closest I've been to smiling in about two months. They noticed. My two aunts came in, and sat on the bed; they were patiently waiting for me. I knew we had all day.

It took a while for me to gather my thoughts. I wasn't sure how to begin. They didn't mind. We just sat in our circle, legs crossed, each knee hitting a different one, we were shunning the outside world. It was just the three of us; the way it's been for sixteen years… I finally decided to just say it. To just spill and begin talking; the pieces would fall into place.

"I'm sorry.." Two sets of eyes snapped in my direction. Each displaying the same set of shock.

"For what?" Aunt Alice's usually perky voice was confused; almost pained as she asked. I guess she wasn't expecting an apology.

"For hurting all of you. I didn't want to. I was hoping that by suffering alone, no one else would be hurt."

"Don't worry about it, Talls." Aunt Alice's eyes gave her away…she didn't want me to suffer their pain, too.

"Yeah, we were just a little…anxious. You were scary…we could see you slipping away from us, and none of us could stop it. No one could bring you back." I knew she was upset. Poor Aunt Rose; I didn't mean for this to happen.

"I didn't realize I was drifting, not at first. I was just trying so hard to not think about it anymore. I knew it was illogical thinking; but as I found more stuff…as more memories resurfaced, I couldn't believe myself anymore, and before I knew what was happening; my heart was beginning to believe my head. I knew something was wrong with me; but I couldn't get myself to trust my instincts. My thoughts were haunting me; and you know me, I live in my thoughts…"

Aunt Alice was the one to interrupt me, "You always had your head in the clouds."

I decided to ignore that comment, I kept speaking; picking up where I left off, "…and now, here I am, drifting. And, Aunt Rosalie, you were right; no one can bring me back…not even me." I was crying now. It was too true. I averted my gaze down to the comforter and the plate of cookies they brought for me. I couldn't look at them. I just kept talking through my sobs

"And I'm so scared. Because I know; I know how scared grandma is, if she could, she would be crying. I know that grandpa is worried because he has no idea what's wrong. And Uncle Emmet, he doesn't know what to do with me because he's too afraid to tap my shoulder anymore; because I'm too fragile! And Uncle Jasper; I feel bad for him because he's the only one that knows the extent of my pain; and not even he can calm me! And Rosalie, you always look like your dying when you look at me; and then I'm too afraid to look at myself. And everyone at school! They just…and Trent; he's broken, so utterly broken because he's helpless and I'm hopeless. Don't lie to me Aunt Alice, but I don't have a future anymore, do I?" With that last statement, I took a deep breath and looked up…

…and saw just what I expected. They were sad, too; they were agonized, they were in pain, they were broken. And then, I looked up more, and through the tears, in the doorway, I saw them, my family. Every one of them shattered. I just looked at them, me being the only one able to cry, I did. Loudly. Enough tears for all of us. I cried while I waited for Alice to answer me.

After a long moment, she looked me in the eyes, and when she did, she broke more. After a long moment, she said what I knew.

"No."

And after that I stood up. I knew I shouldn't have told them anything. I quickly got up and ran to the door…but not even vampire speed was quick enough. Uncle Emmet caught me by the door. He hugged me and whispered,

"No more running, Natalie; we'll fix this…"

But in the backs of our minds, I knew we were all thinking the same thing; we weren't. It was beyond repair. We were a mirror, and I just dropped it. And now, when you look inside of it, our reflections are unrecognizable, distorted, and the shards lie as painful reminders why we were so broken.

xxXxXxXxx


	3. Chapter 2: An Arrival

**Chapter 2:  
****An Arrival**

" _And they say this is medicine:  
__an overdose of oxygen.  
__A severed head as sedative.  
__To be at peace would be a sin  
__and surely un-American.  
__I'm breaking down… "_

_Two shadows were laying in a meadow. The sun was shining through the gaps in the trees and they were sparkling. They were just laying there, talking. The female seemed to be sobbing; the male was trying to soothe her, but he seemed sad, too… _

_"It's been sixteen years…"_

_"I know, Bella, I know…"_

_"I can't believe she's dead, Edward. I feel so responsible; I just can't get over it. I loved her. She was my daughter; our daughter. And now she's gone; and part of me left with her, and it's changed our relationship…we're different people. We're lost, broken, empty…" Her voice was weighted down with agony; with pain._

_"Bella stop! I know, okay? I know what happened." His tone matched hers, but it was slightly angrier, "She was our daughter; she was. I mean, I know we adopted her, but we did it so we could have a family; and that was our option. She's perfect, I mean she _was_ perfect..."_

_A hint of sparkle lit the girl's eyes, "Let's visit her, Edward."_

_"Bella," he groaned, "We can't, love. She's dead."_

_"Please, just for a moment. Just stop by her grave, please? Our time with her was so short; brief; please; I need to do this…"_

_After a few moments of suffering from an internal battle; the male finally gave in. "Okay, love. We'll go tomorrow."_

_"Thank you so much!" she was so happy; as another thought graced her mind, she spoke, but this time it was hesitant, unsure, "You should also pay a visit to your family, Edward. Like we said, it has been sixteen years…"_

"Natalie Leigh Cullen!" Uncle Emmett screaming my name woke me from the dream. But there was something about this dream; it didn't feel like a dream. It was too real; too full of emotion. Something was going on…

"Come on Talls, it's eleven; time to wake up." I barely heard him. I was too immersed in my dream. Why did the names Bella and Edward sit into my subconscious? I've never met anyone with those names before…at least no one I can recall. Then I wondered if they were even real people. Maybe I made them up in my state of dreaming…

"Talls…?" No. I didn't make them up. Bella and Edward are real. They are out there, somewhere; mourning for their daughter. Planning to surprise their family…

"Come on Talls, get your head out of the clouds. Talk to me, please. You're scaring me, kid." But who was their daughter? Who were they? Why did this bother me so much?

"Talls, come on kid. Snap out of it; please, kid. Talls…" Whoever they were, they were vampires; it was obvious. But why were they so important to me…

"Talls; wake up! Snap out of it. Talk to me. Stay with me, kid…" Right, Uncle Emmett. I can imagine that after yesterday he is a bit worried. Time to resurface.

"Uncle Emmett, who are Bella and Edward?" He would know. I knew he would.

"Oh thank God. Natalie, kid. You scared me half to death; and I can't even die!" I wasn't in the mood for his I'm-an-immortal-vampire jokes. I wanted answers.

"Uncle Emmett, who are Bella and Edward?" This time I looked up at him. He looked like a deer caught in headlights…he opened his mouth to answer me when Alice jumped into the room.

"They're coming!" she yelled. Uncle Emmett, relieved at the temporary distraction, focused on his sister.

"Who's coming?"

"Edward and Bella! They are dropping in to surprise us!" _What?_ Uncle Emmett widened his eyes and looked like someone just punched him in the stomach. I had to know.

"For the third time this morning, and someone better answer me this time; who are Bella and Edward?"

Alice was about ready to answer when something in my speech made her stop and think. "Third time?"

I was fed up with playing games, so I just decided to give a straight answer. "Aunt Alice, I had this insanely real dream. These two vampires, a male and a female, were lying in a snowy meadow somewhere. I knew they were vampires because they were sparkling. They were having this conversation…"

"…what about Tally?" That was Aunt Rosalie; I don't remember when she walked in, but with her vampire speed; anything is possible.

"…they were, like, mourning. They just kept saying, 'it's been sixteen years' and 'she was our daughter' and 'now that she's gone I'm broken and empty'. I didn't know what any of it meant; but by the looks of it, the two were in bad shape, I mean, they were doing everything they could to console each other but nothing was working. And then, at the end of my dream, the girl-who's name was Bella-had just talked the boy-Edward-into visiting his family again, for the first time in sixteen years. Now Aunt Alice proved that you are the family that they are going to visit; so someone better give me an explanation!"

After my speech I looked into a silent room. Four vampires-my two aunts and my two uncles-had their attention focused on the ground; no one was looking me in the eye. After a while, I began to get irritated, so I pulled out my vampire power and read their minds…

_How do we tell her?_ Uncle Jasper.

_It's not time yet; she's too young._ Aunt Rosalie.

_They're coming today, she needs to know_ Aunt Alice.

_This is going to kill her._ Uncle Emmett.

"Someone better fill me in on what Uncle Jasper doesn't know how to say; what Aunt Rosalie feels I'm too young for; what Aunt Alice feels I need to know and what Uncle Emmet thinks will kill me." Each person winced when I pointed out their thoughts. Uncle Emmett broke the silence.

"You misinterpreted, kid. I _know_ this is going to kill you. Look at you! You're pale, and thin. You are dissolving and melting away. There is no way that you are going to know what's going on here." Leave it to Uncle Emmett to protect me. But this time, he knew and I knew that, no matter what, I was going to find out what he didn't want me to know.

"If these Bella and Edward characters are coming today, Uncle Emmett, I'm going to find out what's going on one way or another. I'd rather know now. I want you guys to tell me."

"She does have the right to know you guys." Score! I got Aunt Alice on my side.

"She does; she has the right to know…it is about her…" Okay, I have Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper on my side. Time to convince the two most stubborn people on the earth.

"No."

"Come on Aunt Rose. I want to know! I'm asking. And I'm not too young! I'm sixteen! I can handle it!"

"I don't know Tally. After yesterday's episode…"

"I'm fine! Okay, I would appreciate it if people would stop shoving yesterday's episode into my face…"

"…it was too big for us to ignore, Natalie!" Now Uncle Emmett was angry…

"But I'm fine!"

"No, kid, you're not fine! You're dying!"

"Come on, Uncle Emmett, don't you think that's going a little too far. That it's a little too extreme?"

"No!" With that, he stopped yelling and he sat down on the bed next to me. "Talls, you scared us all yesterday. Look at yourself! Your paler than me, your thin, you just look, breakable…and without knowing it, you are in pain because of this. You are suffering and you don't even know the full story behind your past…"

"…so tell me, Uncle Emmett. Tell me the full story; that way I can know…that way, I can understand…"

"…no! Natalie Leigh Cullen; there is no way in hell…"

"…why not? Maybe it will help me come to terms with everything that happened. Maybe…"

"…Natalie, you can't even look at yourself in the mirror! If you can't come to terms with you, how are you supposed to be strong enough to listen to the story?"

"That's not true." I whispered; even though I was lying. "It's not true."

And Uncle Emmet came and hugged me and we sat there, and I cried. And he kept whispering things like, 'it'll be okay' and 'we'll get through this.' While Uncle Jasper sent a calmness around the room.

After a few long minutes of us all sitting around the room, holding each other, a voice; one I've never heard before and one that made Uncle Emmett stiffen spoke.

"Where is she?" Me, being the curious person that I am; lifted my head off of Uncle Emmett's shoulder. When I looked up, I saw them. They were straight out of my worst nightmare. The male, whom I recognized as the Edward in my dream, and I, locked eyes. We stared at each other. No one else in the room seemed to know what to do. Sometime, while we just looked at each other, I stood up, and walked closer to him. I sensed Grandma and grandpa coming into the room, but I didn't turn to look…I was too engrossed with the stranger.

"Purple." It was a whisper, from Edward. And that one whisper stopped me in my tracks, and sent it all back to me…

_A young couple holding a little bundle wrapped in pink; they were gushing over her when they noticed the purple eyes._

_The same couple sitting in the living room, laughing at something Uncle Emmett said while I crawled around on the ground._

_The same couple, hugging me, and setting me down in the crib…ignoring my cries of protest. They left then…_

These memories, and a hundred more of the first year of my life came rushing back to me. I started crying. The Edward character moved forward to try to comfort me, I flinched backwards. I was weak. I remember looking at the couple standing before and whispering, "You did this to me…" before my world turned black. The last thing I remember is Uncle Emmett growling at the couple while Aunt Rosalie came rushing to my aid, she was whispering things like, 'Stay with us Natalie, please' while Aunt Alice stayed rooted to the spot, crying over a vision…

xxXxXxXxx


	4. Chapter 3: Surprises

**Chapter 3:  
****Surprises**

" '_Cause I am due for a miracle  
__I'm waiting for a sign.  
__I'll stare straight into the sun  
__and I won't close my eyes  
__'till I understand or go blind… "_

This time, when I opened my eyes; I wasn't greeted with Aunt Rose's candy apple red walls, Aunt Alice's dark purple one's or my teal ones; it was white. The walls were white, the ceiling was white, the fluorescent lights were too bright and the smell of sick people and bleach filled my nose while a quiet, rhythmic beeping filled my ears. I was in the hospital.

After getting past the dazed and disoriented phase; I decided to look around the room. I was in a private room; one of the nicer ones at the local hospital. I felt a slight weight on my left hand, the one that didn't have the I.V., I decided to bring my attention and focus to the weight.

When I turned my head, I saw who was with me. Sound asleep with this head next to our linked hands was Trent; my best friend. Even in sleep he looked tense; worried. I decided to end some of his misery and wake him up. Using all of the strength I could muster, I slowly slid my hand from his. He began to wake up.

"Hey, you…" I whispered. He looked surprised, but when he realized who was talking, a relief spread over him.

"Tally. You're awake."

"Yeah. What happened? How long have I been out?" With my questions, he seemed worried and regretful; almost afraid to tell me something. With my confusion, I had to do it; I had to read his mind.

_What do I tell her?_

"The truth," with those two words, his head snapped up. He slowly began to shake his head from side to side.

"No. The truth is what did this to you." This irritated me. I snapped.

"Would everyone please just stop treating me like I'm porcelain? I can handle it. I can handle the knowledge. I need it. Please, Trent. Tell me what happened." Towards the end, my anger started to die down and I started begging. Trent sighed. He was going to tell me.

"Do you know how long you've been out, Talls?"

"No…but it can't have been that long. Right, Trent."

"Two weeks. You've been in a coma for two weeks."

"A coma? From what?"

"That's the mystery. We don't know. The doctors don't know what caused it. You weren't physically harmed at all. I mean, I wasn't there, but your family vouched for you. You were fine…except for the episode you had the day before your accident..."

The memories came flooding back to me.

_It was the last day of sophomore year. I had just gotten home from school; I had a final that day in Chemistry. It was my last one. _

_I was relieved to be leaving. I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't handle the too-heavy workload, the sleepless nights, the stress the school was already putting on us about college, the thoughts…_

_People were worried about me. Just two weeks before that day I had found a scrapbook. It was a baby book, my baby book; and it was empty. The pictures were gone. The captions and decorations still lay on the pages in between the plastic sleeves, but the pictures were no longer there._

_Under that scrapbook, was another one. This one still had the pictures in it. But this time, the pictures were of a tiny silver coffin. A headstone. A funeral. It was my funeral. There were people there, I didn't know any of them except for my aunts, uncles and grandparents._

_When I found that book, I thought someone was out to get me. I wasn't dead. I was here. I was never dead. I had never died. I was confused._

_I disregarded the book, then the nightmares came…_

_Every night the same nightmare haunted me. I didn't know what to do. So I didn't sleep. It worried Trent. I also stopped eating; I wasn't hungry…I never had the nightmare again…until that day._

_He said it. He whispered it, "purple" my eye color. It was the trigger. I remember seeing pieces of my nightmare, pieces of my life, long lost and forgotten…_

"Natalie? Natalie?"

_The purple, it was the same voice. I hadn't registered it with my mind earlier. It was _his _voice. Edward. It was him. He was doing this to me. He did this to me…_

"Natalie? Snap out of it, please. Emmett, Rosalie; someone, help!"

_Someone was worried about me. But he didn't care. He didn't care about those who would be sad or hurt. He was still haunting me. He was out to find me. I didn't feel threatened by him. He seemed like a nice enough man, he was my dad…well, my adoptive dad; he was the only dad I ever had…_

"Oh my god. Natalie! Talls, snap out of it! Trent, did she wake up?"

"Yeah, she was talking to me. She asked me what happened…"

"Tell me you didn't tell her…"

"I had to."

_But why did he go? Why did he lie to the world? Why did he want me to be dead? Was I really that bad? Did I ruin his life? Why would he go through this much trouble to get rid of me?_

"Talls. Natalie. Someone get a doctor!"

_He didn't want me. Neither of them did. I had ruined their lives. And they didn't want to take care of me anymore…_

"Kid, you need to stay with us! Trent, why would you tell her?"

"Emmett, give her some credit. It's her life. She needed to be filled in with what's going on with her."

"No. Not when this happens. She doesn't need to be "filled in" right now. She needs to be kept safe and, preferably, alive!"

"So when were you planning on telling her, Emmett, huh? Were you going to wait until she felt better and then attack her with this knowledge that would kill her again?"

"No, we were going to slowly work into it…start with little things. Start at the beginning so she understood. So she wouldn't attack herself like she is now!"

"That wouldn't have worked. She's too independent. She would have wanted to know everything all at once. And besides, I didn't say anything to her; I just told her that she had been in a coma for two weeks."

"And that started this? That caused her to space out like this?"

"Yeah."

_But that wasn't consistent with what I heard. I now realized that the voices that haunted my dreams were his thoughts. They were Edward's thoughts. They were directed towards me. He thought I was dead. He thought I was in Heaven. He thought I was watching him; keeping close tabs on his life. He thought that I was the reason for all of the mourning he did. He thought of it as me punishing him; as a payback…_

It was time for me to snap out of it. I had to wake up. I had to speak.

"I'm not dead." I whispered so low that humans wouldn't have been able to hear me. In a few moments, Grandpa Carlisle, Grandma Esme, Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper appeared in the doorway as Aunt Rosalie, Uncle Emmett and Trent's heads snapped in my direction. They heard me this time, but the first time I woke up, I had to wake up Trent myself…oh well…back to business…

Trent slowly walked over to me. He stood on the same side of the bed he was on earlier and grabbed my hand just as he had before; it was calming. "What are you talking about, Tally?"

"Me. I'm talking about me. I never died. I'm not dead. But they thought I was; he thought I was. Why?"

No one answered me. I looked over to Trent. He looked confused. He didn't know what to tell me.

Slowly, I brought my attention to everyone else in the room. They knew. They were withholding some vital information from me…and I didn't like it. "Someone, please; someone better start speaking…"

_Damn girl and her intuition…or her father, whichever one I need to blame in this situation._

_Someone needs to tell her; but how?_

xxXxXxXxx

Please Review…


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